The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-01-15
BY STRANGULATION.-
LILLIAN MAp1soS,s MURDERER

Swings From the Gnllows In Richmond b,
u sliken Cord-IIe Protests lila In.
nocence to tho Lnst-A Ills.
| tory Of tho Crime. ..T
RICHMOND, Va, Jan. II The morning
broke cloudy to-day. A thick miHt hid the
light Of the sun and clouds obecured the
sky. 1t was gloomy, dlsagrseablo be.
ginning OF what aiterward proved to be a
bright and beautiful day, for at 10 o'clock
the mist disappeared, tho clouds rolled
back, and the atmosphere was as bright
and balmy asever seen in May. Cluverius,
the condemned murderer, was up early.
His counsel, Mr.. Beverly Crump, parted
from him at two o'clock this morning,
aud ho afterwards TOOK only few hours
rest without removing his clo!hes; he ate
sparingly, but bore up 'bravely, and
seemed 10 be hopeful, Groups Of people
gathered around the newspaper offices and
the vicinity Of tho jail, anxious to hear
what action, II any, the Governor had
taken. AS the hours wore on the crowds
increased. and the excitement became
moro and mora intense. The telephone
at the city jailwas in constant use, sskipg
Tor the latest news.
Tho Governor remained in his private
Office in the executive mansion and was
not seen by any one Of tho counsel. They
had done all that they could for their
client, but to no avail. MIR. Crump, one
Of the most active OF the counsel, came
down to the Jail about II o'clock and had
a talk with the prisoner. Mr.. Frank w,
Cunningham, who has frequently sung
ior the prisoners qualification, also came
down, aud sang several hymns, ono OF
which commencing, "How firm a founda-
ton tho saints OF the Lord, greatly affect.
cd the prisoHer. The excitement Incl.
dental to the hanging was greatly aug.
mented by reason Of the fact that 1t was ul.
known what the action OF the Governor
would be,and there were great many crit
icisms upon this, many very severe upon
tho Governor. A. photographer of a yery
enterprising turn mounted houss.top in
the neighborhood OF the jail and photo.
graphed the thousands Of people that lin.
ed the streets. The prisonerH, some three
or four hundred in number, mostly ne.
Rres, chanted in loud voices their peculiar
hymns while waiting for the hour Of the
execution. The scaaold was erected in
the inclouure OF the jail yard and admit
lance was gained only by ticket from
City Sergeant Smith. notwithstanding
this the small space lef. WAS filled with
people brought out by idle curiosity,
About ll:30 o'clock the prisoner sent for
Mr.. Beverly, Crump and they had a con.
ference, the. exact nature Of which is not
known. =
TO THE scArroLD.
AT noon suit Of new black clothes vss
brought to the Jail and the prisoner
donned them. At two minutes to one the
death procession was formed, the prisoner
having his hands tied in front was taken
from tho cell. The match progressed
along the corridor and down two FLIGHTS Of
stairs, and into the yard, forty police be-
ing on duty to keep back the crowd. The
prisoner though thin and pale, walked
with steady steps to the acaHold, and
stood on the trap. Sergeant Smith read
tho death warrant. which the
prisoner listened to with bowed head,
and apparent close attention. When the
sergeant had concluded he asked II he
had anything to Say, and Cluyerius ra-
piled: mo sir" his voice being scarcely
audible. Dr.. Hatcher then knelt and
offered prayer, and when be had flushed
he turned to the prisoner who said fe "
words in. a low tone OF voice, and Dr..
Hatcher turning to the crowd, said: "I
am requested by the prisoner to utter
one wond for him, and that is, that in this
moment he carries no feeling of ill.yill
towards any man on earth" DR.. Hatcher
then went out, raising both hands as he
went ont. He said the prisoner had
asserted his innocence to the last . i
Everything being ready, Sergeant Smith
gave the signal and eight minutes after
o'clock the trap was sprung.
The rope, which was made OF particular
BLK, stretched over foot. A minute of
quiet, and then there was considerable
struggling, lasting several minutes, to.
gether with a heavy stentorious breathing
Indicating that death was being produced
by strangulation. After sixteen minutes
the physicians pronounced the body dead,
and twenty minutes after tho trap was
sprung 1t was taken down and placed in
plain wooden coffin. ? Iii ~
The Crime for Whioh He Hung.
On the morning Of March IA, 1885, Mr..
L. Rose, keeper Of the old city reservoir
in the west part Of the city, in making his
usualrounds of inspection, discovered the
body OF a woman in the reservoir. He at
once notified the Coroner, who had the
body taken from the water. 1t proved to
be that OF a good-looking woman about 3a
years Of age. The Coroner, after viewing
the remains, pronounced 1t O case OF sui.
eide and hsd tho body removed to the
morgue at the city almshouse for identi-
tcation. MIR. Peter ]. Burton, reporter
OF the Richmond Dlspateh, subsequently
went to the reservoir and then TO- the
morgue, and his investigation resulted in.
the formulation of murder theory on q
chain OF Oircumstantisl evidence which
convinced many minds. A further ex.
animation OF the body disclosed the fact
that the unfortunate woman was far adj
Vanoed in pregnancy. - ~ .hh; ~
During two days many people saw the
body, and 1t was finally recognised by two
young ladies' (tho Misses Dunstan) az a
friend Of theirs, Miss Fannie Lillian Mad
iaon, of King and Queen county, but who,
had for some time past been teaching
school in Bath county. The ooroner's in
quest resulted in verdict OF probable
murder. Detectives and police we're SET
to work and in short time brought to
light circumstances that added ptrength
to the murder theory. A woman who
had registered at the American Hotel on
March IS under the name OF Miss F, i,
Merton was missing from tho hotel, and
her disappearance and the finding OF thb
body about the same time furnished the
fatal clue, but for which the murder
might never have been known. While
the ao.called ,"Miss Merton" was at the